Digital Tenderness
by Misura
Summary: Otogi ponders reality, luck and Honda, and their place in Noa's virtual world.


Digital tenderness

x

Warnings/notes : very slight Otogi-Honda and Honda-Shizuka, ooc, slightly AT, major weird, shortie.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. The song 'Digital Tenderness' belongs to Adam Ant.

(!) Takes place during 'Enter the Shadow Realm' and thus contains spoilers for that.

written at 4th august 2004, by Misura

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_/Why do the feelings that I have for you  
Have to become a word?  
Don't say you love me-oh no  
Don't ask that from me-oh no no  
That alphabet you call 'love'  
Is just a digital tenderness/_

'Digital Tenderness', Adam Ant

x

Fake.

This whole world is fake, nothing more than a string of ones and zeroes in some gigantic computer.

A program, written to recreate reality, life itself.

Except for the fact that in life, things like chance and fate have a place. In the real world, one can never be certain what will happen tomorrow, or next week.

In this virtual world, one can. Easily.

Oh, Otogi knows enough about programming to be aware of random sequences, of generating a semblance of luck in any game, but it's not the same.

It's not the same at all.

This world is a travesty, created by a sick mind. A mind that's absolutely obsessed with being in control of every small detail, with eliminating all elements of chance.

Otogi'd say it reminds him of Kaiba. Yet Kaiba appeared as surprised as Yugi and the others when he vanished, so it would seem unlikely they're wandering around in one of his creations.

A pity, in a way.

Kaiba may be a bit crazy on occasion, but at least his way of thinking is somewhat familiar. Otogi thinks he might be able to puzzle himself out of here, had it been Kaiba who'd set the trap.

But it's not, and 'what if's have never helped anyone.

Gingerly, Otogi rests his hand against a stone wall, noticing how it feels. Noticing how there are patterns in the stone, as if it were natural.

He feels sick.

This world is choking him, strangling him with its artificial nature. It's his worst nightmare come true, because at first sight, it looks kind of normal.

It doesn't look so bad, kind of nice actually, if you're able to ignore the fact that it's a prison for a while.

Otogi has played enough computer-games to feel a slight relief at the lack of monsters and maniacs with chainsaws that have tried to kill him and Honda thus far.

Of course, it might be quite different elsewhere, and he definitely hopes they'll find Shizuka soon, but he can see that Honda's slowly beginning to relax.

Honda's slowly beginning to -accept- this world, accepting that when he sees a door, it's a door, and when he sees an axe, it's an axe.

Honda's practical. If Otogi would try to explain his problems with this place, Honda probably wouldn't understand. He'd probably feel the same as Kaiba; the less left to luck, the better.

It means that who plays by the rules can win the game. In theory.

But Otogi knows there is one big flaw to the reasoning of people like Kaiba and Honda.

The rules of this world are known only to the same person who made them. Which means that they can be changed and bent by that person too. And by nobody else.

Not even Lady Luck can help him here.

"Hey, Otogi, you all right?" A warm hand grasps his shoulder, and Otogi has to make an effort to keep in mind that it might not be real, since he can't sense any difference between the feeling of the wall and that of Honda's touch.

"I'm fine." Shrugging off Honda's hand, he walks on, pretending nothing's wrong. Pretending they're not trapped in some computer-game that's been created by a madman.

"Geez, I was only asking," Honda mutters, sounding slightly breathless as he catches up with Otogi. "I mean, we've been walking through this hallway for ages now, and we still haven't found Shizuka. It's not like you don't have a right to be in a bad mood."

Otogi raises one eyebrow, slowing down a little.

"You just shouldn't take it out on me," Honda continues. "We're in this together. If we don't work together, we're never going to get out of here."

"Do you really want to work together with the guy who put your best friend in a dog-costume?" Otogi asks curiously, absently noting that he's talking to Honda like he's for real, not a part of this program, and wondering how stupid that is.

"Hey, we had a good laugh about it afterwards. And Joey -was- kind of asking for it, even if you could have gone a bit easier on him. But, like they say, that was then and this is now." Honda shrugs.

Otogi reaches out his hand. Honda meets him halfway, a peculiar, slightly puzzled expression on his face.

As they shake hands in the middle of a corridor that's not really there, Otogi reflects that perhaps Lady Luck has found a place here after all.

She just calls herself 'trust'.

OWARI


End file.
